Are you struggling to get a group of busy executives to decide on or engage with something you're in charge of?
Perhaps it's a project that will help your external stakeholders or a new process that will drive positive change in the organisation. Whatever your cause is, you feel you need executives' support to make a bigger impact.
And it doesn't matter whether you're a middle manager trying to influence upwards or an executive working across divisions to drum up support among your peers. Either way, you are trying to be creative with your approach in the absence of direct authority.
Assuming, of course, that you are plugging a genuinely worthwhile cause, the main thing to do is to let go of your own negativity. That will only hold you back.
Instead of worrying about how unresponsive the executives usually are, try focusing on the things that are within your control. What can YOU do differently to increase their engagement and achieve your desired outcome?
In my experience, it often comes down to making things easier for them. Because, remember, executives are busy and there are others lining up to get their attention.
Here are three things you can do to achieve that.
1. Give them less to do.
This can relate to any of the following:
the amount of information you provide
the level of detail you go to
the number of options you give them to consider
the number of decisions or choices you ask them to make
in a meeting or workshop setting, the amount of pre-work, in-session work and out-of-session actions required on their part.
All of the above will drive the level of effort needed, so consider how you can keep this to a minimum and still meet their information and governance needs.
Executives are smart people but they are bombarded with information and asked to make many decisions each day, so help them out by following the 'less is more' rule.
Make it quick and easy for them to understand your request and the proposed way forward. Show them that you've done your homework and considered the impact on their time.
Providing less information will also force you to be clearer. It's a win-win!
2. Meet them where they're at.
I'm not talking about going to their office, floor or building, but rather being mindful of the following:
the level of the organisation's maturity
the strategic direction of the organisation
the amount of major initiatives on the go.
It's easier to get things across the line when they are achievable and make sense within the organisation's strategic and operational context.
This doesn't mean that we shouldn't be disruptive or challenging at times, especially when it's for the greater good. But even in these cases you will need to show the executives how you propose to get from A to B or what they will need to get rid of to make way for the new.
3. Include the possibility of quick wins or multiple value points.
This may sound superficial but it's not about making the executives look good...although that may be a by-product.
Think about how some early wins can be achieved to build stakeholders' confidence in the project or in their ability to participate in the proposed process.
If it's a longer-term initiative and success is uncertain, show the executives a clear timeline with review points where the resulting learnings can serve both to manage risks and enhance corporate knowledge.
Good luck!